In parts of Pennsylvania, there are now more domestic animals than ever on the land, and manure from them is routinely spread on cropland for use as fertilizer. Intersex fish have been a worldwide phenomenon for two decades, and scientists have found them in the U.K., Germany, Italy, South Africa and Japan. After a massive die-off of smallmouth bass in 2003 in the Potomac River, another tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, scientists discovered that many of those ill fish were also intersex. Did you know the swamps of northern Clinton County once contained quicksand? Smallmouth bass spawn in the spring, the same season when the most water runs into rivers from ranches and farms because of melting snow and heavy rains. “I just don’t see that happening,” he said. Today, Pennsylvania is the nation’s fifth-largest producer of milk, third largest of eggs and the top producer of mushrooms, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Most troubling, biologists say, is that many of these bass, and scores of others, have visible signs of disease — black splotches on their skin and grotesque open sores. Clinton, Sanders spar over specifics in Iowa, Yoga used to help kids cope with violence in Chicago, Seeking charges against a Chicago officer, Filipina ‘comfort women’ seek official apology from Japan. Evidence of these mischievous beings has even been found in local Native American culture. “We’ve been trying to explain that the river is sick,” he said in an interview. Upon being asked during a panel discussion about his most “mysterious sighting” while in the wild, Maurer recalled a large creature that he saw swimming in the Susquehanna River. Know of any other Greenway ghouls and legends? The report says there is a significant correlation between the percentage of land used for agriculture in a watershed and the number of intersex fish downstream in a river. Is the Kettle Creek Monster / West Branch Dugong / Susquehanna Seal really gone? The Susquehanna River, a broad waterway with two branches that course through dairy farms and past factories before joining to form the largest tributary to the Chesapeake Bay, has a basin that covers nearly half the state. In 2013 nearly half of all smallmouth bass in the river showed signs of disease, the highest percentage yet. According to legend, escaped slaves captured a Native American brave and maiden, and killed the man. The first people to live in the Susquehanna River area, about 15,000 years ago, are known as the nomadic hunter Paleo-Indians. PA SPECIES BY WATERSHEDS. Our next Greenway legend is another Clinton County native, and even holds the title as the “Official Monster of Clinton County.”. (A similar algae bloom in Lake Erie has now imperiled drinking water in Toledo, Ohio). Animals such as caribou, musk ox and woolly mammoths were hunted by the Paleo-Indians. The Susquehanna River delivers half the fresh water in the Chesapeake Bay and about 40 percent of the nitrogen pollution, 20 percent of the phosphorus pollution1, and a heavy load of the sediment pollution. “Studies like this have to be viewed with the understanding that correlations or associations do not necessarily equal causations,” said Richard Carnevale, vice president at the Animal Health Institute, an agricultural lobbying group. Here, Walt Bates shows off a 33-pound, 9 … Estrogen is present naturally in the waste of all animals, particularly females producing milk or eggs. ), The Environmental Protection Agency has taken broad steps to improve the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and, by association the Susquehanna River, including raising standards for water-treatment facilities and limiting the amount of sediment that may be sloughed off from municipal storm-water systems and from agricultural operations, across the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin. A smallmouth bass with a malignant tumor caught by an angler in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania in November, 2014. Tread carefully next time you paddle your way through this section of the Greenway. In the summer of 2000, zebra mussel populations were discovered in Eaton Brook Reservoir and Canadarago Lake, in the upper Susquehanna River watershed of New York. The local hero “Loop Hill Ike” also reappears with this legend, tasked with hunting down witches, ghosts, and monsters. Over the next year or two, I saw it several times and it always sank out of sight before it got close enough to be seen clearly.”, “They say, that is the old mountaineers, that the Water Witch was an Indian girl who suddenly changed her mind towards her lover. Susquehannock Indians reportedly painted images that match the description of these creatures on their war shields, and the Algonquin also told of small hairy hominid creatures, which they called Megumoowesoos. The woman was able to flee, but, stricken by grief, drowned herself in the quicksand. The PA Species by Watersheds Table lists most Pennsylvania fishes occurring naturally in or introduced into Pennsylvania’s major watershed systems. The Susquehanna River is a major river located in the Northeastern United States and the Mid-Atlantic region. Creepy. It is very elusive, preferring to hide out of sight in the hemlock woods; however, the legend says that if you do happen to catch a Squonk, it won’t be long before you find yourself with a puddle of tears in place of the beast. It is home to 3 million people, and one-fifth to one-half of its land is used for agriculture. At about 50 yards, it sank out of sight. Also, they say, the intersex-fish report is far from conclusive. Using local resources like authors Rick Fisher and Scott Butcher, the map pinpoints strange happenings, creature sightings, and wild tragedies. Alana Jajko is the director of communications and outreach for the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership. Rock Bottom Dam-off Route 363, ½ mile above the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers. This map is just in time for spooky season and is perfect for those who want to learn more about things that go bump in the night in the Susquehanna … While the numbers of dairy cows fell, the overall number of cattle grew in Pennsylvania counties located within the Susquehanna River basin. It is detailed as a “marine animal or sea monster” with the “the bulk of an ox or hippopotamus.” The monster was “not the form or image of anything else on earth” and was said to make a horrible howling and thrashing at night. This is according to analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s census of agriculture for the 30 Pennsylvania counties that compose most of the Susquehanna River basin. 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